Adeptus Custodes
From Warhammer 40k
| Adeptus Custodes | |||
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| Leader: | Captain-General | ||
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| Establishment: | pre-Horus Heresy | ||
The Adeptus Custodes are the organization responsible for guarding the Imperial Palace and the Emperor. They are a group of genetically engineered superhumans that serve as the Emperor of Mankind's personal guardians. Since the Emperor's enthronement following the Horus Heresy, they have taken a far more limited role, and never leave Terra and only very rarely leave the Imperial Palace. Although they are said to be ten thousand strong, this is a relatively small number as the Imperial Palace covers an entire continent. An elite core of 300 Custodians guard the Emperor himself.
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[edit] History
There is no set date for the inception of the Adeptus Custodes, but it is known that they have been active since well prior to the Great Crusade. It was from the Emperor's first group of bodyguards that the first genetically-modified super warriors were created during the unification wars on Holy Terra after the Age of Strife. Nevertheless, during that time, they were not yet known as the Adeptus Custodes.[1]
They are the 'Dread Guardians', and the only living beings permitted to walk beside the Emperor. The Custodes were the greatest group of physiologically and psychologically enhanced troops the Emperor had ever created, ten thousand strong and the best trained, most disciplined and most vigilant watchmen in the Imperium. Now ensconced deep within the Sanctum Imperialis on Holy Terra, they watch over the corporeal body of the Emperor.
Before the Horus Heresy, a unit of Custodes used to accompany the Emperor at all times, even when he retired to his private chambers. During the Great Crusade, these great warriors always kept a contingent with the Emperor for his protection, but also traveled individually as envoys. Even in the days before the Heresy, it was a rare and blessed thing to see a member of the Adeptus Custodes, and due to the confinement of the Emperor to the Golden Throne, it has become an almost unthinkable event. Even during the Heresy, a group of Custodes joined the Emperor upon Horus's ship, the Vengeful Spirit.
Since the death of Horus and the wounds inflicted upon the Emperor, the Adeptus Custodes have taken a more limited role as protectors of the physical form of the Emperor on Holy Terra.
The Adeptus Custodes were instrumental in the ending of the rule of Lord Vandire and the Age of Apostasy. It was the actions of a few members of the Adeptus Custodes, utilising secret passages known only to themselves, which caused the Sisters of Battle, then known as the Brides of the Emperor, to realise the acts of base treason perpetrated by Vandire. After their leader, Alicia Dominica, was brought before the Emperor by the Custodes she returned and executed Vandire for his Heresy.[2]
[edit] Role and Capabilities
The similarities in form between the Adeptus Astartes and the Adeptus Custodes indicate the two groups may be related, although it has never been confirmed that members of the Adeptus Custodes undergo the rigorous genetic change in the same way as the members of the Adeptus Astartes. It was implied in False Gods that the creation of a Custode was a long and arduous process, utterly different from the creation process of a regular Astartes and much costlier, thus their relatively small numbers. They have the final word on security in the Imperial Palace, and even the High Lords of Terra are subservient to them within its walls.
They are warriors unmatched in the galaxy, genetically engineered by the Emperor himself. The Emperor engineered few of these warriors as the swifter method using gene-seed became more viable.
The martial capabilities of the Adeptus Custodes remain largely unknown. What is known is that they possess skill beyond even a 'normal' member of the Adeptus Astartes. It has been said that the Adeptus Custodes are to a Space Marine what a Space Marine is to a member of the Imperial Guard. They are similar to the Grey Knights, the militant arm of the Ordo Malleus branch of the Inquisition, in that both are elite, secret organisations with close ties to the Emperor. Custodes are unique as, unlike the Grey Knights, they have neither a Primarch nor geneseed, they are also far stronger, quicker and more impressive than any Space Marine or Grey Knight. They stand a full head taller than a Space Marine and it's said that they were almost the same size as a Primarch. In fact it was said that Constantine Valdor, Chief Custodian to the Emperor during the Horus Hersey, was the same size as the traitor Primarch Alpharius of the Alpha Legion.
Although their numbers remain unknown, three hundred Custodes guard the Emperor's chambers at all times.
Only three hundred of the Adeptus Custodes serve as the actual personal guard of the Emperor. These are those that are privileged enough to be in the Emperor's physical presence. Each unit of Companions is led by a Centurion. It was one such Centurion that led a small group of Companions to meet Alicia Dominica, head of the Brides of the Emperor (later Sisters of Battle) during Vandire's Reign of Blood.[2] One such Custode, Constantine Valdor, was the Chief Custodian during the Heresy. He was the most honoured of all the Emperor of Mankind's creations. No other being had served the Emperor for as long as he, save Malcador the Sigillite. Valdor was a proud and respectful warrior unmatched in his devotion and loyalty to the Emperor. Valdor was ever-present at the Emperor's side, always protecting him from unseen enemies and saving the Emperor's life innumerable times. Along with Malcador, Valdor was his most trusted friend and advisor.
Constantine Valdor was one of the first High Lords of Terra. He also had a close relationship with Dorn and Leman Russ, although initially Russ and Valdor didn't see eye to eye. Dorn was ever-present at the Palace during the Crusade and so Valdor and the Primarch spent much time together. On the other hand, Valdor only earned Russ's respect when the former defeated Horus in a sparring match. The two were then together during the battle of Prospero.
There is no mention of when or how Valdor was killed if at all he was killed. He stepped down from command as a High Lord so that he could protect his beloved Emperor, now esconsed within the Golden Throne.
Dan Abnett's Blood Games, however, provides a different version of the relationship between Astartes and Custodes. Abnett claims that, though Custodians are slightly larger, on average, than Space Marines, their fighting skills are more or less equal. Abnett also points out that while Space Marines don their armor ritually and in the presence of their squadmates in order to focus themselves entirely on their martial calling, Custodians arm themselves alone and in silence, reflecting on the varied duties they must perform in the service of their master. As bodyguards, the Custodes not only protect the Emperor's person but also maintain scrupulous surveillance on Imperial factions, infiltrate the households of suspicious individuals, and enter deep cover to test the tightness of their own security net, an exercise known as a blood game. Furthermore, Abnett states that each Custodian's name consists of numerous components typically awarded for feats of arms; Valdor's full name, for instance, is over nine hundred components long.
[edit] Equipment
[edit] Pre-Heresy
Recent conversion modeling done by Games Workshop staff on the official website[3] show the Adeptus Custodes as wearing gold coloured armour. These superior warriors can be seen adorned with all manner of lightning bolt (the symbol of the Emperor prior to the Imperial Eagle), aquiline and knightly crosses.
Little is known of the equipment and capabilities of such a secretive organisation, but the visual sources (such as a diorama of the Golden Throne within the 3rd Edition Rulebook) give the impression of immensely ornate armour.
Custodians are typically seen with a Guardian Spear which, in the days before the Horus Heresy, was a combination of force halberd with boltgun. A gladius is normally seen at their side.
Players wishing to convert and play a Heresy or Crusade era Custodes army are encouraged to use the Grey Knight rules laid out in the codex. The Custode Gaius Commodus carries a modified version of Guardian Spear. It is rumored that the spear itself was a relic given to him by Constantine Valdor.
[edit] Present
Before the Emperor's enthronement they had access to the same equipment as the Legions of the Space Marines. However, since then they have taken a far more limited role, and never leave Terra and only very rarely leave the Imperial Palace. Accordingly (although the Imperial Palace covers a vast area) they have no need for a wide array of weaponry and vehicles.
As noted by John Blanche in the Horus Heresy Collected Visions book, the Custodes abandoned wearing armour following the enthronement of the Emperor. Their traditional colour of red also changed to black. Their armour also influenced the later Grey Knights.
[edit] Rogue Trader
In Rogue Trader (Warhammer 40,000 1st edition) the Custodes were set out as the Guardians of the Emperor and the Imperial Palace. They wore simple but effective clothing: boots, leather breeches and a black cloak, their torsos were naked and corded with tattooed muscle, and in keeping with the current edition, they carried laser spear-guns said to have been built to resemble the traditional Guardian Spears. Their helms were tall and ornate works of art, impassive and giving the Custodes a threatening appearance. According to the stats given for them they were superior to the Astartes of the time, although, not as loyal.
[edit] References
- ↑ http://fr.games-workshop.com/40k/space_marines/modelisme/custodes/img/art_custodes_marines.jpg
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 McNeil, Graham; Hoare, Andy, and Haines, Pete (2003). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Witchhunters, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-485-X.
- ↑ See here
- Merrett, Alan (2004). Horus Heresy – Volume I: Visions of War. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-096-3.
- Chambers, Andy; Priestley, Rick, and Haines, Pete (2004). Warhammer 40,000, 4th edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-468-X.
- Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader
- Codex Imperialis by Rick Priestley
- Lord Stabby
[edit] External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It was imported from the Wikipedia article "Adeptus Custodes". The previous authors can be seen on this page's history.
